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Which
Snoring Disorder Do You Have?

If
your snoring is rattling the windows and keeping your partner awake at
night, you are not alone as more than thirty percent of the adult
population suffers from some type of snoring disorder.
When looking at
trying to solve your snoring issue, it is first necessary to understand
the disorder that is causing your snoring problems.

This
is especially
important because in order to understand why you snore, it is first
necessary to rule out obstructive
sleep apnea, which can be a very
serious sleeping disorder and can cause many health problems if not
treated. For those who are unfamiliar with sleep apnea, it is a
condition where a person ceases
breathing for short periods of time
while sleeping and is almost always accompanied by loud snoring.

To determine the cause of your snoring problems, it may be necessary to
visit a sleep
and snoring clinic and undergo a polysomnogram (sleep
study) where sleep specialists will monitor your sleeping and breathing
patterns. If the specialists determine that you have a form of sleep
apnea, then they will be able to provide you with more information on
what you can do to ensure that you continue breathing normally
throughout the night.

If you are lucky enough to be able to rule out sleep apnea as the cause
of your snoring issues, then there are several other disorders that
could be the cause of your snoring problems. We will focus on a few of
the most common disorders and provide more information on each of them
and what you can do to treat your specific snoring problem.

Types
of Snoring Disorders

Generally,
snoring disorders can be divided into two categories:
sleep
apnea related snoring and snoring that is not associated with
sleep apnea, also known as primary
snoring.

All
types of snoring, even
sleep apnea, are related to obstructions of the air passages in the
nose and throat.

These
obstructions cause the individual to have to
force air through the passage which causes vibrations of tissue and
this is what causes the snoring noises.

Primary
snoring is characterized by loud upper respiratory
breathing
without a
cessation of breathing like in sleep apnea.

Normally,
people
with primary snoring do not suffer from insomnia or excessive tiredness
like those with apnea, as the snoring typically does not wake them up
or keep them awake for long periods of time.

When
an individual with
primary snoring undergoes a polysomnogram, the results show normal
breathing and sleeping patterns, as well as typical levels
of oxygen in
the blood stream.

Most
primary snoring is related to the soft palate and uvula blocking
the airway at the back of the throat, and there are many things you can
do to help solve this snoring issue.

There
are anti-snoring devices,
herbal supplements, throat sprays, special pillows, exercises, and many
other solutions which should be able to help with this snoring
problem.

If
none of these devices work, then many sleep
specialists will recommend a technique known as radiofrequency ablation
which shrinks and tightens the soft palate. In new studies, this
technique has been shown to be effective for more than 75% of people,
so it may be highly recommended although only as a last resort.

Still, not all snoring disorders are caused by blockages of the throat.
Another disorder that is quite common is a deviated septum.

Snoring
Caused by a Deviated Septum

Recent studies have shown
that more than 80% of
individuals have some sort of deviation in their nasal
septum. For those of you who do not know what this means: the septum is
the bone and cartilage which splits the nasal cavity in half.

In
individuals with a deviated septum, the bone and
cartilage are either crooked,
or a tad off center
which results in nasal
congestion and difficulty breathing. The cause of this problem could be
due to a broken nose, although many people are born with this issue.

Even though many researchers
estimate that 80% of people have some sort
of septum deviation, most people are blissfully unaware of it and it
doesn’t cause them any problems breathing or sleeping.

Still,
for
people with a severely deviated septum, snoring problems are incredibly
commonplace and can cause serious problems with sleeping and breathing.

If you snore through your nose night
after night, then it's possible that you have
some form of
septum deviation.

Unfortunately,
while a polysomnogram will rule out
sleep apnea as the cause of your snoring issue, it cannot diagnose a
deviated septum so you may be diagnosed as having primary
snoring.

In
this case, it will be necessary to see an ear, nose, and throat
specialist who can perform a full scan of your nasal passages
to see if
septum deviation is the cause. This is important, because nasal snoring
could also be related to a less serious condition known as nasal
polyps, which can simply be scraped out while the
individual is under a
local anesthetic.

Still, if your doctor determines that septum deviation is causing your
snoring, then you will need to determine whether or not you feel you
can live with the problem. This is because there is basically only one
solution to this problem, and that is a surgical procedure
known as
septoplasty.
In a few cases, medication may help provide some relief,
however a septoplasty is the only real cure for this problem.

In a septoplasty procedure, a surgeon will actually remove part of the
bone and cartilage to allow the nasal cavities to be open
and for
normal nasal breathing functions to return. This surgery is fairly
straightforward and most people recover quite quickly. Nonetheless,
like any surgery, this procedure comes with inherent risks. Still, for
many individuals with a deviated septum, this is their only hope so the
risks are well worth being able to breathe properly and finally stop
their snoring problems.